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Did Climate Change Cause Arab Spring?

On December 13th, 2010, Yaneer Bar-Yam sent an email to the US state department with a startling warning. Over the last year he and his team had been analyzing the relationship between food price volatility and social unrest. With food prices on the rise again, he had evidence to suggest that the world was in for another turbulent year in 2011. Specifically 9 countries were at risk. Syria. Tunisia. Etc. Four days later, on December 17th, a street vendor in Tunisia named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire and sparked a series of revolutions across the Middle East. Bar-Yam, had predicted it all.